Multi-scale Simulation of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Composites

In this study, a finite element approach is applied to predict the Young's modulus of a nanocomposite. To do this, a representative volume element was simulated using ANSYS Commercial Software and contained three different phases namely, resin, carbon nanotube and interphase region. The carbon nanotube type considered here was double-walled carbon nanotube and was simulated at molecular scale, while the matrix was simulated at macro-scale which means a multi-scale modeling was applied here. Furthermore, the coupling between the carbon nanotube and matrix was created using linear spring elements. It is worth mentioning that according to Lennard-Jones potential, the van der Walls forces no longer exist at a distance more than 0.85 nm and for this reason the spring bonds were only created at this distance. After simulation of the model, the Young's modulus of the representative volume element was computed and the results were presented afterwards. Some parametric studies including the effect of double-walled carbon nanotube type, volume fraction and stiffness of the interphase region will also be investigated.